Football; Cameroon without Onana, Anguissa, Aboubakar, and Choupo-Moting

Cameroon will go to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations without a large part of its backbone. The list unveiled on Monday by David Pagou, newly appointed head of the Indomitable Lions after Marc Brys was quickly sidelined, confirms the exclusion of a generation of players who are nevertheless undisputed leaders on the field. While Zambo Anguissa, who is injured, and Martin Hongla, who has struggled this season, can be justified on sporting grounds, the simultaneous absences of André Onana, Vincent Aboubakar, Éric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Moumi Ngamaleu and Michaël Ngadeu mark a decisive turning point.

These sidelined players are not losing their edge. With the exception of Hongla (four games with Granada in La Liga 2), all are in solid form with their clubs: André Onana has returned to consistent form at Trabzonspor, Aboubakar (five games, three goals) has regained his effectiveness with Neftci, Choupo-Moting (38 games, 18 goals) continues to perform well in his role at New York Red Bulls, and Ngamaleu (14 games, 1 goal) is racking up starts with Dinamo Moscow. Their collective absence therefore leaves a void that is difficult to explain by sporting logic alone.

But it comes especially after a sequence in which these executives publicly supported Marc Brys in his long-running power struggle with Samuel Eto'o's Fécafoot, denouncing in a strong statement the tensions surrounding the selection and calling for calm around the technical staff. This was a rare, unusual, and politically significant stance in an already tense context. “We reiterate our unwavering support for our coach and his technical staff, in whom we have complete confidence.” And further: “We would like to call on the Federation [...] The disruptions and discord we have seen recently do not help our coach, our staff, or us, the players.”

Eto'o: “No player will be above Cameroon”

Just two days before the publication of this list, Samuel Eto'o was re-elected as head of Fécafoot. That same evening, in a firm speech, he warned: “No player will be above Cameroon. Anyone who wants to defend the jersey must accept that Cameroon is above them.” This statement, when viewed in context, sheds particular light on the choices made. The renewal of the group looks more like a punishment. Pagou, who has just been appointed, is therefore beginning his term of office in a landscape where technical decisions are inevitably intertwined with internal power struggles.

Cameroon will therefore arrive in Morocco with a profoundly reshaped team, featuring unexpected returns such as those of Olivier Kemen, Christopher Wooh, and Simon Ngapandouetnbu, alongside a wave of new faces set to shake up the hierarchy. The desire for renewal is real, almost radical, but it comes with a structural fragility: how can the experience of a starting goalkeeper, a captain, offensive leaders, and technical players be compensated for simultaneously? And above all, what level of cohesion can be expected when part of the locker room has been reconfigured in the wake of an open rift between management, staff, and players?



Goalkeepers: Dévis Epassy - Simon Omossola - Simon Ngapandouetnbu- Edouard Sombang 

Defenders: Samuel Junior Kotto - Gerzino Nyamsi - Jean-Charles Castelletto - Nouhou Tolo - Flavien Enzo Boyomo - Nagida Mahamadou – Junior Tchamadeu - Christopher Wooh - Darlin Yongwa

Midfielders: Martin Atemengue Ndzie - Carlos Baleba - Arthur Avom - Junior Dina Ebimbe - Fidele Brice Ambina - Danny Namaso - Christian Bassogog - Bryan Mbeumo - Georges-Kévin Nkoudou - Jean Junior Onana - Olivier Kemen 

Forwards: Christian Kofane - Frank Magri - Karl Etta Eyong - Patrick Soko.